Friday, March 27, 2015

About Everything and Anything, except Pens

The idea for doing a post like this has been floating around in my head for quite a few weeks now, if not months. The title probably already gave away that this post won't be about pens, or at least it won't be a review of any kind. This post will be about nothing and everything at the same time, I'll explain some of my ideas and thoughts, I'll react to some topics that caught my attention lately, and I might also need your input on some things...

A couple of months back, I was wandering around on the FPN site, and one particular post grabbed my attention. I don't recall the name of the author, or the title of the post, but I remember very well what it was all about. In the article, which was more of a rant actually, the author described how bloggers and authors on certain sites are biased, and get bribed by companies that give out free products to them. A week or so ago, this same subject popped up again on the Clicky Post, and it really got me thinking.... I too get sent free stuff, how do I deal with it? So far, I've always tried to be as objective as possible, and my posts reflect mostly facts about a certain product. Nevertheless, there's always a certain amount of personal opinion involved, especially when it comes to the writing aspect, or the looks of a product. If writing with a pen makes me smile, because it's a great writer, and it looks great, I probably won't focus as much on the negative sides. Why? Well simply because wether a product is good or not doesn't always depend on the details that aren't perfect. It's a combination of many different aspects, and if most of these fit together, but one or two small details aren't on par, it can still be a good pen. Of course there are certain limits. For example when a pen fails to write the way it should, I'll definitely mention this loud and clear.

Will my review be less in-depth, or a bit more forgiving if I receive a product for free? Well that's a pretty tough question to answer, but I don't think so. I'll always add a disclaimer that clearly mentions when I receive a product for free. If something about a product, be it a bought one, a loaner, or something I received for free, really bothers me, and I feel like it deteriorates from the value or experience, you'll read it in my review, that's a pinky promise!

The next thing I'd like to talk about is something that isn't necesarily personal, but I do notice that it affects me too. I,...WE are part of great community. Writing enthousiasts like us are friendly people, and as far as I know we don't bring harm to others. However, certain people like to act annoying and downright degrading on the internet, and I've only noticed it getting worse over time. Even our community is struck by annoying, harsh and unnecesairily rude comments and reactions that are posted by people that are often not even interested in pens. My reaction towards these people is simple and straightforward. I'll also only say this once, because I'm well-aware that attention is all these 'trolls' want. IF YOU'RE NOT INTERESTED IN PENS OR WRITING, AND YOU'RE NOT VISITING A PEN BLOG OR WEBSITE BECAUSE YOU'RE CURIOUS, YOU SHOULD GTFORIGHT AWAY! (Pardon my French) There, I said it, now let's all be happy and friendly with eachother again!

Something completely different now: a trend you might have noticed here on the blog, is that I recently really started leaning towards more 'high-end' pens. Pretty much all purchases of the last year or so have been big ones, like a Pelikan M805 and M1000, Delta Journal, and my latest addition, a Visconti Homo Sapiens Steel Oversize. I'm not shy of spending a lot of money on new pens, but I know not everyone thinks this way. Pens in the 40 to 100 USD will always be more of a sweetspot for most pen enthousiasts, so I'll try to get back to more reviews of pens in that price category up in the future.

Finally, a little something on my blog: It has cost me sweat, blood and tears building it up (figuratively speaking of course), however that doesn't mean it's perfect. Lately I've been working on improving the accesibility and looks of the blog, as well as the functionality. I hope you like it. But I'd like to ask you, should you find flaws, or things that could be done better, please tell me! Send me an email or post a comment, and I'll do my best to make my site better!

Not only the looks and performance of my blog need changes every now and then, the content might also need to be refreshed. It's been almost two years now since I started doing what I do here, and in that time, here have been a couple of small changes, as well as some new formats (Like Inktastic reviews, and the inexPENsive posts) that came up along the road, but despite those efforts, I slowly started feeling like I've been running in circles the whole time. I think it's time to start thinking about changing the way things work around here. I definitely need to find a new and more efficient workflow for doing reviews, because I can clearly see that my spare time gets more scarce every day. I'd also like to start doing a few new types of posts. These posts will probably focus more on inks and the 'other things' that make for a great writing experience. Also, because studying starts becoming more time-demanding every day, I might just throw in some more short posts, photo posts or alike.

Last but not least, I'd love to hear from you! if you have good ideas for new topics and reviews, or if you want to see a specific item reviewed, let me know!

4 comments:

Great post (and pretty pictures). I don't understand the state of mind people are in when they browse and then leave rude comments, as though saying something nice or not saying anything at all, has never occurred to them. You shouldn't have to justify that you are leaning towards high end pens for now - it's your blog and your choice and your work. OWN IT! Do what makes you happy and ignore those that try to drag you down.

Thanks! I actually use quite a lot of 'cheaper' pens, but I never get to actually reviewing them! It's not that I feel bad for buying expensive pens :), I just need to get back to reviewing pens in different price categories! Thanks for the comment!

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